Putrajaya seeking RM1.4b for pensioners as some promoted before retirement

Published 1 year ago on 27 March 2017

By Ida Lim

Johari said the promotion of civil servants to higher pay grades was among reasons the federal government is seeking an additional RM1.4 billion for pensions. — Picture courtesy of Johari Abdul Ghani

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — The federal government is seeking an additional RM1.4 billion for civil servants’ pensions as some were promoted before retirement, Finance Minister II Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said today.

Johari said the promotions of these civil servants to higher pay grades came after Budget 2016 was presented.

"So when they retire, their grade has changed, their pension rate will also increase," he said in Parliament today.

Besides such promotions, Johari also listed three other reasons for the pension bill being larger than previously allocated in Budget 2016.

He noted that there was an adjustment in pension amounts due to a one-off gift announced by the defence minister, and the implementation of a government circular which increased the last salary of civil servants retiring from July 1, 2016.

The finance minister had also announced an increase in the minimum pension amount level to RM950 when tabling Budget 2016 in October 2015, he said.

Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen then questioned why the increased minimum pension amount was not accounted for when Budget 2016 was tabled, and instead included in the supplementary budget.

Johari explained that the federal government starts preparing its Budget as early as March, adding that the Budget 2016 was already printed when the new minimum pension amount was announced.

"In the future, if there are any policies that we know in advance, maybe we can incorporate in the budget earlier," he said.

He was winding-up the parliamentary debate of the Supplementary Supply (2016) Bill 2017 at the policy stage.

The Bill seeks an additional RM3.08 billion to supplement the government's expenditure under Budget 2016.